Using surfaces with printed patterns for identification of imaging and data processing activities

ABSTRACT

Identifying at least one object in data for photographed images includes detecting a reference pattern in the data, locating the reference pattern in a table of patterns, and identifying the at least one object according to the reference pattern. The pattern may be located on the at least one object. The at least one object may be a greeting card. The pattern may categorize the greeting card by season and/or occasion. The pattern may identify a sender of the greeting card. The pattern may be provided on an item that is separate from the at least one object. The table of patterns may include a record for at least some of the patterns and the record may include additional information associated with the pattern. The additional information may include tasks that are performed in connection with the pattern. The additional information may include geometric and color parameters of the pattern.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Prov. App. No. 61/684,405,filed on Aug. 17, 2012, and entitled “CORRECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHEDDOCUMENTS USING SIMPLE PRINTED PATTERNS”, which is incorporated hereinby reference, and claims priority to U.S. Prov. App. 61/692,588, filedon Aug. 23, 2012 and entitled “RECOGNIZING AND PROCESSING OBJECT ANDACTION TAGS FROM COLOR STICKERS”, which is incorporated herein byreference, and claims priority to U.S. Prov. App. No. 61/714,457, filedon Oct. 16, 2012 and entitled “USING SURFACES WITH PRINTED PATTERNS FORIDENTIFICATION OF IMAGING AND DATA PROCESSING ACTIVITIES”, which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application is directed to the field of analyzing, managing andpresenting information, particularly in connection with image processingand pattern recognition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In 2012, the number of connected mobile devices in use, including mobilephones and tablets, exceed the population of our planet. Marketforecasts indicate that by 2016 there will be over ten billion ofInternet-connected mobile devices in the hands of end users, of whichapproximately eight billion will be smartphones and tablets.Accordingly, digital lifestyles of billions of people will becomeincreasingly dependent on their use of smartphone and tabletapplications.

One of the largest smartphone application categories is related to useof phone cameras. According to industry statistics, over 83% of the 1.78billion mobile phones shipped in 2012 and nearly all smartphones have acamera. Current smartphones have relatively good quality cameras,stimulating quick growth of scanning applications. Scanning applicationson smartphones are already used by hundreds of millions peopleworldwide. Two categories of smartphone scanning activities includetaking, storing and processing photographs of paper documents andscanning printed or otherwise displayed matrix (two-dimensional)barcodes for mobile tagging. According to recent market surveys, asmartphone or tablet camera for document capture, and cloud fileservices, are used by more smartphone and tablet users than mobilescanners, and mobile printing services. Additionally, a December, 2011survey indicated that approximately 33% of smartphone owners in Japan,20% of US smartphone users and 14% of smartphone users in EUS, the fivemost populated European countries, have scanned QR codes, which is onlyone (albeit the most popular flavor) of the over 70 types of currentlyexisting matrix barcodes.

Online services and multi-platform software such as the Evernote serviceand platform by Evernote Corporation of Redwood City, Calif., ABBYY byABBYY Group of Companies, the Dropbox service by Dropbox, Inc. and manyother solutions offer image storing, advanced processing and searchwithin images of photographed documents. In particular, the EvernoteService offers indexing and search of handwritten documents, which makessmartphone document scanning an attractive and potentially ubiquitousmethod of the paperless life. As to barcode scanning, recent surveysrevealed that over 75% of US retailers are offering matrix barcodes totheir customers. In addition to the three most popular applications ofmobile tagging, namely, obtaining product information (most popular inUS and Europe), receiving discount offers for goods of services (adominant QR code application in Japan) and getting event details, thereare numerous casual, educational and other uses of matrix barcodes, suchas museum guides, searching for lost things, gaming, dating and manyother uses.

Notwithstanding significant advances in smartphone camera quality andprocessing power of mobile devices, capabilities and scope of onlineservices, and their extended document and image processing features,smartphone scanning still faces significant challenges for bothcategories of document and barcode scanning In some cases, obtainingquality images of handwritten pages from a camera phone and other photosis a difficult task. Photographs of handwritten pages are subject tovariable lighting conditions, perspective distortion, backgroundeffects, bending toward notebook edges, etc. Techniques for correctingreal-life photo images with shadows, reflections and distortions;identifying page boundaries; separating handwriting from paperbackground; correcting perspective distortions and curved edges, andother similar tasks have been explored by many vendors with varyingdegrees of success. In particular, the tasks of unique identification ofa page of a notebook, and reconstructing page boundaries have beentraditionally solved by adding barcodes or cropping marks, such as apage frame, corner markers and other distinguishing and location-boundpage elements. Such approaches make page identification resultsvulnerable to occasional reflections and shadows, interference withunrelated objects that may shield portions of photographed pages, etc.In some cases, note-takers' instructions for note filing and noterelated actions at the time of writing are different for different pagesof handwritten documents. Examples may include tagging, merginghandwritten pages, communicating portions of note content to differentpeople, etc. These actions may be reoccurring from note to note and maybe easily forgotten if not memorized instantly. However, existing paperbased note-taking systems lack simple, easily recognizable andconvenient means of indicating actions that can be instantly convertedinto the digital form identifiable on smartphone photographs of notebookpages.

Analogously, the usage of QR codes and other rasterized identifiers isnot without problems. One disadvantage of such marks lays in theirconflict with the aesthetics of product design. For example, an image ofa QR code with a mediocre information capacity of 98 characters has aminimal linear size of 48 mm (1.9″) for reliable scanning from acomfortable distance of 300 mm (12″) that would secure a subsequentaccurate decoding by the smartphone software. For many small-size goodscarrying aesthetical functions, the presence of a relatively largeblack-and-white square patch might be a considerable design problem. Forexample, an online marketing guide to QR codes repeatedly warns againstan inappropriate use of QR codes on promotional items: “Putting the codeon the front makes the t-shirt unattractive . . . ”

Another potential issue with processing matrix barcodes is that, inspite of generally reliable error correction codes incorporated intosuch identifiers, their recognition completely depends on the locationof characteristic elements within the codes, such as the bullseyecropping marks at the angles of a QR code or the black L-shaped finderpattern border and the alternate timing pattern border in a Data Matrixbarcode. In a non-commercial photographing environment, these elementsmay be easily obstructed and may be quite sensitive to lightingconditions, which creates an increased risk of losing the recognizablecodes which are present on the photo but remain unidentified by thesoftware. It also takes time for a user to locate and target matrixbarcodes with a phone camera, which doesn't align well with otherphotographing activities where the aesthetical aspect is important andwhere image processing tasks are involved.

Accordingly, it is desirable to design streamlined methods for automaticidentification of photographed objects, including correction methods forimages of paper pages with handwriting, and for performing image anddata processing tasks that combine reliable recognition andidentification with aesthetical attractiveness of photographed scenes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the system described herein, adjusting data forphotographed images includes detecting a reference image in the data,where the reference image contains a detectable uniformity and adjustingthe data according to the reference image. The reference image may be auniform grid pattern of dots preprinted on paper. A paper type may bedetermined prior to adjusting the data according to the reference image.The paper type may be determined according to spacing and/or patterns ofthe dots, and/or layout of page areas covered with dots. Adjusting thedata may include removing effects corresponding to a folded corner, aremoved corner, an obstructed corner, lens flare spots, and/or a shadow.Positional coordinates of the data may be adjusted by normalizing thegrid through a non-linear transformation that eliminates curvature ofthe grid and/or distortions based on perspective. Adjusting the data mayinclude detecting page boundaries. The photographed image may behandwritten notes on the preprinted paper that are photographed using amobile phone. Color and brightness correction may be performed bycomparing color and brightness of the paper and dots with idealbrightness values for the paper and dots. Ideal brightness of the inkmay be determined through calculations based on brightness values of thepaper and the dots for the particular paper type. Adjusting data forphotographed images may also include removing the grid pattern inconnection with adjusting the data. The reference image may be abackground pattern provided on an item. The disposition of thebackground pattern may facilitate detecting orientation of the item. Thereference image may have a pre-defined color that is used for colorcorrection. The reference image may be an image of a tray. The tray maybe oval or rectangular and may include dividers. Detecting a referenceimage may include a reverse image search and content-based imageretrieval techniques. A content-based image retrieval technique may beselected from the group consisting of: TinEye, Imprezzeo, andMacroglossa.

According further to the system described herein, computer software,provided in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, adjusts data forphotographed images. The software includes executable code that detectsa reference image in the data, where the reference image contains adetectable uniformity and executable code that adjusts the dataaccording to the reference image. The reference image may be a uniformgrid pattern of dots preprinted on paper. A paper type may be determinedprior to adjusting the data according to the reference image. The papertype may be determined according to spacing and/or patterns of the dots,and/or layout of page areas covered with dots. Adjusting the data mayinclude removing effects corresponding to a folded corner, a removedcorner, an obstructed corner, lens flare spots, and/or a shadow.Positional coordinates of the data may be adjusted by normalizing thegrid through a non-linear transformation that eliminates curvature ofthe grid and/or distortions based on perspective. Adjusting the data mayinclude detecting page boundaries. The photographed image may behandwritten notes on the preprinted paper that are photographed using amobile phone. Color and brightness correction may be performed bycomparing color and brightness of the paper and dots with idealbrightness values for the paper and dots. Ideal brightness of the inkmay be determined through calculations based on brightness values of thepaper and the dots for the particular paper type. The software may alsoinclude executable code that removes the grid pattern in connection withadjusting the data. The reference image may be a background patternprovided on an item. The disposition of the background pattern mayfacilitate detecting orientation of the item. The reference image mayhave a pre-defined color that is used for color correction. Thereference image may be an image of a tray. The tray may be oval orrectangular and may include dividers. Detecting a reference image mayinclude a reverse image search and content-based image retrievaltechniques. A content-based image retrieval technique may be selectedfrom the group consisting of: TinEye, Imprezzeo, and Macroglossa. Thesoftware may be pre-loaded with a device, installed from an app store,or downloaded from a location of a network operator.

According further to the system described herein, handling data for aphotographic image, includes detecting a reference pattern in the data,detecting at least one sticker in the data, determining an actionassociated with the at least one sticker, and performing the action onthe data. The reference pattern may be a uniform grid pattern of dotspreprinted on paper. A paper type may be determined according to thereference image. Determining an action associated with the at least onesticker may depend, at least in part, on the paper type. Detecting aparticular one of the stickers may cause data for the photographic imageto be stored in a particular location. Detecting a particular one of thestickers may cause data for the photographic images to be assignedparticular tags used for organizing and searching. A particular one ofthe stickers may represent a custom tag that is assigned after data forthe photographic image is stored. Detecting a particular one of thestickers may cause handwritten text corresponding to the sticker to beused for a title of a note corresponding to the data for thephotographic image. A user may apply the at least one sticker.

According further to the system described herein, computer software,provided in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, handles data fora photographic image. The software includes executable code that detectsa reference pattern in the data, executable code that detects at leastone sticker in the data, executable code that determines an actionassociated with the at least one sticker, and executable code thatperforms the action on the data. The reference pattern may be a uniformgrid pattern of dots preprinted on paper. A paper type may be determinedaccording to the reference image. Determining an action associated withthe at least one sticker may depend, at least in part, on the papertype. Detecting a particular one of the stickers may cause data for thephotographic image to be stored in a particular location. Detecting aparticular one of the stickers may cause data for the photographicimages to be assigned particular tags used for organizing and searching.A particular one of the stickers may represent a custom tag that isassigned after data for the photographic image is stored. Detecting aparticular one of the stickers may cause handwritten text correspondingto the sticker to be used for a title of a note corresponding to thedata for the photographic image. A user may apply the at least onesticker. The software may be pre-loaded with a device, installed from anapp store, or downloaded from a location of a network operator.

According further to the system described herein, identifying at leastone object in data for photographed images includes detecting areference pattern in the data, locating the reference pattern in a tableof patterns, and identifying the at least one object according to thereference pattern. The pattern may be located on the at least oneobject. The at least one object may be a greeting card. The pattern maycategorize the greeting card by season and/or occasion. The pattern mayidentify a sender of the greeting card. The pattern may be provided onan item that is separate from the at least one object. The table ofpatterns may include a record for at least some of the patterns and therecord may include additional information associated with the pattern.The additional information may include tasks that are performed inconnection with the pattern. The additional information may includegeometric and color parameters of the pattern. The data may correspondto a business card and a business card holder. Tasks associated withbusiness cards may include tasks for correcting orientation of thebusiness card, tasks for performing OCR on the business card todetermine a name and contact information, and tasks for storing the nameand contact information. A task may cause the data to be tagged and/orfiled according to the reference pattern.

According further to the system described herein, computer software,provided in a non-transitory computer-readable medium, identifies atleast one object in data for photographed images. The software includesexecutable code that detects a reference pattern in the data, executablecode that locates the reference pattern in a table of patterns, andexecutable code that identifies the at least one object according to thereference pattern. The pattern may be located on the at least oneobject. The at least one object may be a greeting card. The pattern maycategorize the greeting card by season and/or occasion. The pattern mayidentify a sender of the greeting card. The pattern may be provided onan item that is separate from the at least one object. The table ofpatterns may include a record for at least some of the patterns and therecord may include additional information associated with the pattern.The additional information may include tasks that are performed inconnection with the pattern. The additional information may includegeometric and color parameters of the pattern. The data may correspondto a business card and a business card holder. Tasks associated withbusiness cards may include tasks for correcting orientation of thebusiness card, tasks for performing OCR on the business card todetermine a name and contact information, and tasks for storing the nameand contact information. A task may cause the data to be tagged and/orfiled according to the reference pattern. The software may be pre-loadedwith a device, installed from an app store, or downloaded from alocation of a network operator.

Decorative patterns pre-printed on surfaces (referred hereinafter assmart fabrics, smart surfaces and smart patterns) encode designation ofthe surfaces, associated image processing tasks, filing instructions andother activities via geometry of the patterns, color palette of thepatterns or a combination thereof. Certain parameters of smart patterns,such as a known color palette or a count of elements within a smartsurface area may also be used to facilitate or enable efficientprocessing.

When a scene with full or partial view of smart fabrics is photographedusing a dedicated mobile software application on a smartphone, such asthe Evernote Page Camera feature, the application analyzes the smartpattern, looks up for the corresponding record, retrieves the associatedimage processing tasks and parameters, and performs the tasks, which mayinclude color correction facilitated by the known color palette of thesmart fabrics, eliminating shadows, glare and other lighting effects,geometrical correction, including perspective correction, straighteningimages of curved objects, eliminating backgrounds for more reliable OCRand handwriting recognition, etc.

A smart surface may have a periodic design represented by a tessellation(tiling) where one or several proto tiles (i.e. basic tiles of differentshapes) may be combined into one periodic smart pattern. Encoding ofimage designation, associated tasks and other necessary data may beachieved through graphical elements repeated on individual tiles and/orthrough tile shapes and relative disposition of the tile shapes, i.e.the ornamental characteristics. The first approach where graphicalelements on individual tiles encode necessary data may be moreapplicable to smart surfaces with sufficiently large tiles where thegraphics of individual tiles is recognizable on photographs. In thelatter case, encoding may be defined by the combinatorial properties ofsymmetric or asymmetric tiling (for example, different domino or tatamitiling).

Color treatment on a smart surface may serve different purposes: for oneclass of smart surfaces, color combinations may be used as additionalencoding and identification parameters, for example as found on Wangdominoes; for other classes of smart surfaces, color palette may beuniquely or in a distinguishable way defined by the geometry and usedfor image processing tasks, as explained elsewhere herein. For example,smart surfaces with the same geometric ornament may use different colorsor color combinations designed in such way that any pair of colors ortheir combinations can be distinguished from any other pair under abroad range of photographing conditions and camera parameters.

Smart patterns may be stored in a centralized repository, such as adatabase in the cloud. A designer and/or manufacturer of accessories orother goods with smart surfaces may choose an existing smart pattern,including choosing geometrical ornament and color palette of thepattern, in accordance with design taste and image processing,organizational and other tasks accompanying usage of goods.Alternatively, a smart pattern may be built to an individual order usingspecial authoring software, which subsequently adds a record of the newpattern to the repository, along with image processing tasks, parametersand instructions. In an embodiment, end users may also be able to ordersmart patterns and even produce customized smart fabrics, such ashand-made greeting cards with pre-printed smart surfaces.

Database records from a repository of smart patterns may be subsequentlyretrieved by software applications running on smartphones and othermobile devices or on servers of online services; reverse image search orother content-based image retrieval or matching techniques may beemployed for finding smart fabrics records.

Users may be aware of the presence and designations of smart surfaces ongoods owned by the users. Subsequently, users may consciously includeand utilize photographs of scenes with the inclusion of smart fabricsfor improving image quality, identifying and organizing photographs andobjects on the photographs, increasing pattern recognition accuracy fromimages, etc. For example, after taking a photo of a scene where a smartsurface is visible, a user may implicitly or explicitly notify thesoftware application about the need of additional processing. Thesoftware may identify a smart surface (possibly in an interactive moderequesting users to confirm the correctness of its identification),retrieve a record for the corresponding smart pattern from therepository, decode and extract additional information about the smartsurface (such as color, dot or other element count, brightness and lineparameters of a geometric ornament, etc.), along with a list of tasksfor which the pattern was designated, and use such additionalinformation for the corresponding image processing, pattern recognition,information organization and analysis and other tasks.

Several applications of smart fabrics are explained below. Obviously,there may be numerous other applications, image and data processingtasks and system architectures associated with smart patterns, smartsurfaces, smart fabrics and related accessories.

1. An owner of a business card holder with a smart surface (an accessorymanufactured with a pre-printed smart fabrics cover) takes out abusiness card and puts it on the holder. Another user takes a photographof the business card on the holder using a smartphone equipped with thesmart pattern processing software. The software may recognize the smartsurface, retrieve the smart pattern record from the central repositoryor a local storage, and decode the associated task(s), parameters andinstructions for that particular unit of smart pattern. In this case,the record may describe the photographed object as a business card andidentify color parameters and geometry of the smart pattern that servedas a background to the photograph. Accordingly, the software mayidentify and rotate the card as necessary using its orientation withrespect to the geometry of the background, perform perspective, colorand contrast correction of the card image using the known colorparameters and geometry of the smart pattern as the correction basis,and eliminate the smart pattern background, retaining the correctedimage of the card for further processing. The software may theneliminate any decoration and background on the card and invoke OCRsoftware for retrieving contact data from the card. In this applicationof smart surfaces, color and geometry of a smart pattern may be usedmany times for image processing tasks and for obtaining black-and-whiteimage of the text on the card for improved text retrieval.

2. A greeting card received by a user has a smart surface on the frontand/or back sides of the greeting card. A user takes photos of theoutside and inside of the received greeting card and runs the photosthrough the dedicated software. The software may recognize the smartpattern, look up for the appropriate record and instructions,automatically categorize the card by season and occasion (and possiblyby sender if the card was custom made by the sender or sender'sorganization), all of which have been encoded in the smart fabricsdatabase. The software may also file images of the card as a singleobject under the appropriate tags in a personal database, such as a notein an Evernote notebook and may add an automatically generated title,for example, “Christmas greeting card from Jim”.

3. Post-it® Notes by 3M come in a variety of colors; users may colorcode their activities, projects and memos, so it may be important toreproduce photographed colors of generic or special Post-it notebooks asclose as possible. Meanwhile, lighting conditions may lead to confusionof close colors, such as, for example, Apple Blossom and Neon Green orNeon Pink and Wild Cherry. A smart organizer tray with a distinctiveshape (possibly including dividers) and color combination may helpdistinguishing a color of a Post-it notebook placed on such tray muchmore precisely if the tray is recognized on a photograph as a smartsurface. Then true surface color(s)—say, edge, bottom and dividercolors—of the organizer are known from the smart pattern record. Thesoftware may compare the genuine color palette with the actual colorsreproduced on the photograph and use this information for colorcorrection and filtering of the whole scene. In that way, colordeviations for the tray colors on the photo may be used to correct thecolor of a Post-it notebook, since the image of the notebook on thephotograph is subjected to a similar color distortion as the tray.

4. Similarly to the previous example, napkins, placemats or table clothmade of smart fabrics may be used at a restaurant dining One of thediners may take a photograph of a served food using a dedicated softwareapplication, such as Evernote Food, and may subsequently file thephotograph as an image with a smart surface. The software may thenlocate and identify the smart fabrics on the image, look up in thedatabase for the smart surface parameters, which contain the true colorpalette of the napkin, and possibly other color correction instructions,and correct colors of the food photo using the same technique as in theprevious example.

Paper notepads and notebooks, such as Evernote Smart Notebook byMoleskine, use smart surfaces. Simple and regular pre-printed patterns,such as a dotted grid reproduced on notebook pages, may be used for avariety of image and data processing tasks. Pattern and papercharacteristics such as a dot count in each horizontal or a verticalline or in a cell, a distance between lines, a page layout that combinesdotted and plain paper areas, a brightness and color characteristics ofthe paper and the dots may serve both as identifiers of a notebook typeand as parameters used for image correction and processing, as explainedelsewhere herein. This technique uses redundancy of the pattern andrepeatability. A regularity of a grid may compensate for omissions anddefects in a photographed image caused by reflections, lens flare, deepshadows, minor shielding by alien objects, occasionally folded corners,perspective distortion, etc. Since grid characteristics on a page may beevenly distributed over the image, rather than localized near papercorners or edges, using a repeating grid may be more robust andresistive to random photographing defects compared to other techniquesthat imprint significant information into narrow areas of the page.

Decision rules may be used to determine whether a currently analyzedimage is in fact a photograph of a paper page with a pre-printed gridproduced according to the proposed technique. The rules may be based onthe grid and paper parameters explained elsewhere herein and may comparegrid element counts and spatial characteristics of grid elements with anideal page having the same counts with the same characteristics as thecurrent image. The rules may apply to two decision areas:

-   -   Rejection of an area when a significant difference between the        analyzed and the ideal page with respect to a particular        parameter (for example, dot size) cause instant rejection of the        image prior to applying any subsequent rules. For example, if        the count of reliably identified grid elements on an image is        below 50% of a standard count (on an ideal page) or higher than        120% of the standard count, then the image doesn't belong to a        page of the ideal type.    -   Scoring of an area where deviations from the ideal page for        different rules are deemed acceptable and are used as scores.        For example, if over 80% of identified grid elements on an image        can be grouped into a set of approximately parallel lines with        the maximum relative deviation of elements from the        corresponding lines not exceeding 3% and the difference in line        directions does not exceed 5%, then the actual percent of        elements grouped into lines is accepted as a score of the        parallel lines rule.

Subsequently, rule-by-rule scores may be aggregated into a final scorewhich results in accepting or rejecting page attribution to a certaintype based on a threshold or on other aggregated identification metrics.

Once a paper page image has been positively identified, image processingtasks may be accomplished using diverse techniques based on counts andspatial characteristics of grid elements. Thus, a technique ofidentifying page boundaries may include extrapolating detected gridlinesto the known count, uniquely defined by the paper type, in such a waythat the deviation between left/right/top/bottom positions of lineendings is minimal. Once the gridlines are normalized, preliminary pageboundaries may be calculated. Page boundaries may be further adjustedafter perspective distortions have been eliminated.

After the preliminary page boundaries have been calculated, correctingperspective distortions or curved edges may use the distribution ofdistances between adjacent grid elements. Thus, lower average distancesbetween grid elements (an equivalent of a lower length of gridlines,given a constant element count) show an increased distance of arespective portion of a page from the camera due to perspectivedistortion. A camera view angle may then be estimated and theperspective correction may be performed.

Curved edges may be corrected by a similar technique, modified toestimate a distribution of distances along a single line, rather thanadjacent lines; augmented by calculating gridline curvature to directlystraightens the dotted arcs, whereas the whole image is transformedaccordingly.

The identified dot pattern may improve page binarization, such asseparating page background from handwritten strokes and from otherobjects on the page (for example, smart stickers explained elsewhereherein). One technique for such assisted split of the page content maymark as a background all page areas where only grid elements are presentand leave as an added content all blocks of pixels that are crossing thegrid (and thus overwrite grid elements). Another technique may usecalculated relative brightness of grid elements vs. paper background toaugment standard background detection algorithms with a decision rulebased on the presence of known brightness ratios between the presentgrid elements and the rest of the image, in order to reliably identifybackground areas, as explained in more details elsewhere herein.

For improved handwriting recognition, the grid may be completely deletedfrom an image; or, the grid may be replaced with an artificial idealgrid for an aesthetical purpose. Parameters of an artificial grid may berecorded within the system, so the grid could be identified and deletedprior to a handwriting recognition step. Deleting the grid reduces arisk of misinterpreting grid elements by a handwriting recognitionengine, which may confuse the grid elements with portions of handwritingon a binary black-and-white image containing both the handwriting andthe dots.

Minor deviations in the grid pattern periodically repeated across eachpage of a notebook may encode brief additional information, such as apage number or a unique notebook identifier. Deviations may berepresented by omitted or additional grid elements of the same ordifferent shapes, by variation of distances between gridlines, etc. Suchencoding may be repeated in the same or alternative form in severaldifferent page areas to create a redundancy characteristic of simpleprinted patterns and to prevent information loss due to unfavorablelighting or other photographing conditions or due to minor unnoticedobstructions of a page.

In addition to pre-printed smart patterns, identifiable stickers ofdifferent colors and shapes may be used in conjunction with smartsurfaces to enhance and customize usage of smart fabrics. A few examplesof such customization and actions associated with color stickers are asfollows:

-   -   a. Filing actions where a sticker shape/color is associated with        a specific digital destination, such as an Evernote notebook or        a file folder.    -   b. Tagging actions where a sticker denotes a tag assigned to a        note associated with a photograph; one or multiple tags may be        attached to an object. An example of such an object may be a        page of notes in a paper notebook with a simple pre-printed        pattern, as explained elsewhere herein.    -   c. Merging actions for a paper notebook with handwritten notes        where a sticker instructs on merging a handwritten page with the        next page into one and the same note.    -   d. Splitting actions for a paper notebook with handwritten notes        where a sticker located near a portion of text instructs on        copying or moving that paragraph or portion of note into a        separate note.    -   e. Title assigning actions for a paper notebook with handwritten        notes or other text carrying medium where a sticker placed near        a marked up portion of a handwritten or typed text instructs on        using that text as a title of an associated note.    -   f. Communication actions where a sticker causes transmission        (for example, emailing) of an object associated with a        photograph or a portion of an object to a pre-programmed        destination. Optionally, a transmission form may be displayed        where the user may assign transmission destinations.    -   g. To-do actions where a couple stickers of certain type delimit        a portion of text that is entered as a task and is supplied with        a to-do checkbox.

Actions associated with stickers may be positional (i.e. depend on asticker location within an object, such as a notebook page with ahandwritten note) or position agnostic. The actions may apply to thewhole page (for example, filing instructions), to a portion of a page(for instance, title assigning or splitting instructions) or to multiplepages (e.g. merging instructions). The actions may also instruct onsingle or composite actions; for example, two adjacent stickers maydenote extracting a portion of a page (the first sticker) and sendingthe portion to a certain destination (indicated by the second sticker).The system may display special icons, visually resembling stickers,within a user interface of the software where actions and parametersassociated with stickers are customized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the system described herein will now be explained in moredetail in accordance with the figures of the drawings, which are brieflydescribed as follows.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of smart fabrics used in conjunctionwith a business card holder, according to an embodiment of the systemdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of smart fabrics used in conjunctionwith identifying, tagging and filing photographs of greeting cards intothe Evernote personal content management system, according to anembodiment of the system described herein.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a desktop organizer tray used forcolor correction of paper pads, according to an embodiment of the systemdescribed herein.

FIG. 4 is a system architecture chart explaining design, production anduse of smart patterns and smart fabrics, according to an embodiment ofthe system described herein.

FIG. 5 is a system flow diagram illustrating processing in connectionwith design and usage of smart fabrics, according to an embodiment ofthe system described herein.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a photograph of a paper page witha simple pre-printed pattern, containing handwritten text and smartstickers, with grid distortion due to page flexure, according to anembodiment of the system described herein.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate several phases of correction of a photograph of apaper page with a simple pre-printed pattern originally containingvarious types of defects and distortions, according to an embodiment ofthe system described herein.

FIGS. 8A-8F illustrate different parameters of dotted pre-printedpatterns on paper pages used to identify a pattern type, according to anembodiment of the system described herein.

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration of taking a photograph of a curvedpaper page having a simple pre-printed pattern, according to anembodiment of the system described herein.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of a page photograph transformationused during correction of a page curvature, according to an embodimentof the system described herein.

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration of a method of brightness correctionfor handwriting on a page with simple pre-printed pattern based on knownbrightness characteristics of a paper and dots on the paper, accordingto an embodiment of the system described herein.

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration of identification of objectboundaries on a page with a simple pre-printed pattern, exemplified by abusiness card, according to an embodiment of the system describedherein.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram showing creating a paper with a simplepre-printed pattern, and identifying and processing photographs ofpages, according to an embodiment of the system described herein.

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration of a handwritten page with a simplepre-printed pattern and with smart stickers, according to an embodimentof the system described herein.

FIGS. 15A-15B are schematic illustrations of system settings associatedwith customizing parameters and actions for smart stickers, according toan embodiment of the system described herein.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram showing system processing for smart stickers,according to an embodiment of the system described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

The system described herein provides a mechanism for creating, storing,producing, identifying and utilizing smart patterns, smart surfaces,smart fabrics, smart notebooks with simple pre-printed patterns, andsmart stickers. The system provides different techniques for assigningtasks to smart patterns, processing photographs of objects with smartfabrics and performing activities associated with smart stickers.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration 100 of smart fabrics in conjunctionwith a business card holder and a task of processing photographs ofbusiness cards. A smart pattern 110, in this case a domino tiling on amonochromatic or a multicolor background, represents smart fabrics, or asmart surface of a business card holder 120. A business card 130 isplaced on a surface of the business card holder 120. Note that theholder 120 and the business card 130 are not necessarily drawn torelative scale in FIG. 1. A user may want to obtain the contact info ofthe card owner. The user uses a smartphone 140 with the smart patternprocessing software application and takes a photo of the business card130 on top of the holder 120. The software on the smartphone 140identifies the smart fabrics 110 (pattern on the holder 120), retrievesa record associated with the particular smart fabric of the holder 120,and extracts the information about a corresponding task 150 andadditional parameters facilitating the task. In this case, the task 150associated with the smart pattern is parsing and recognizing printedinformation on the card 130. The software may use a geometry descriptionof the smart pattern to identify boundaries and rotation angle of thecard 130, and perspective correction parameters. The software may alsouse the colors of the surface and the ornamental characteristics (dominotiling) to perform a color correction of the card 130 and adjustbinarization parameters of the card 130. The software may then callembedded or otherwise integrated image recognition software to parse theprinted information, locate specific elements, such as a name, title,email, phone number, etc., and transcribe the printed information usingOCR methods, thus producing a contact information record 160 that may bestored in a contact database by an appropriate contact managementapplication running on the smartphone 140.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration 200 of smart fabrics in conjunctionwith identifying, tagging and filing photographs of greeting cards intothe Evernote personal content management system. A multi-color smartpattern 210 (different colors are illustrated by different filling ofdiamonds comprising the ornament; additionally, the background shown inwhite may be any color) is pre-printed on the front and possibly on theback or internal surface(s) of a greeting card 220. A recipient of thecard takes a photograph of the card 220 with a smartphone 230 which runssmart pattern processing software. The software identifies the smartpattern, retrieves a record for the smart pattern from a centralized orlocal repository, and retrieves a task 240 associated with the smartpattern, which in this case is saving the photograph to Evernote. Therecord may also include an occasion for which the card was sent, such asNew Year cards or Birthday cards, as well as filing and tagginginstructions. In addition to the photograph 250 of the front side of thecard, the software may invite the recipient to take photos of all sides,as schematically shown by an item 260 that has a handwritten greeting bythe sender. The images may then be automatically entered into a singlegreeting card note that may be filed to Evernote in a New Year Cardsnotebook 270 or with a portion of notes tagged as New Year Cards.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration 300 of a desktop organizer used forcolor correction of paper pads. An oval-shaped tray 310 with dividers320 may have distinctive and contrasting colors on an edge 330, on aninterior part 340 and possibly on the dividers 320, which may be solidcolors or may have ornamental patterns for further differentiation ofsmart surfaces. A paper pad 350, such as a Post-it® notepad, shown onthe illustration 300 with a handwritten text, is placed on the tray 310.A photograph of the tray 310 with the pad 350 may be taken. Smartpattern processing software may identify the shape of the tray 310 andcolors of surfaces of the tray 310 and, after a confirmation by a user,may retrieve the corresponding record for a smart pattern that containsexact color characteristics of each part of the tray 310. Based on theknown color values, the software may perform color correction of thephotograph to accurately reproduce the color of the paper pad 350 (shownhere in white color) and thus enhance user experiences by offering anadequate image and by eliminating potential errors in following a colorcoding scheme of a user.

FIG. 4 is a system architecture chart 400 explaining design, productionand use of smart patterns and smart fabrics. At Phase 1, a smart patterndesign facility 410 develops smart patterns based on customer orders.Customers may include providers of accessories utilizing smart fabricsand individuals employing smart fabrics for personal use by theindividuals, such as personalized greeting cards or other goods. Thedesign facility 410 interacts with a central repository of smartpatterns 420, which may be a distributed online database accessible byall facilities. Interacting with the repository 420 secures a uniquenessof each new smart pattern and support registration for new patterns withrecords containing geometry and color descriptions, associated tasks,parameters and usage instructions. At Phase 2, the smart patterns aresent to a production facility 430 where accessories with smart surfaces440 may be produced in necessary volumes on customer demand or accordingto other production plans and schedules and may be delivered to endusers 450, possibly through multi-tier distribution and sales channels(not shown on the chart 400). At Phase 3, a user takes a photograph ofan accessory 445 with a smart surface using a smartphone 450 runningsmart pattern processing software. At Phase 4, the software attempts torecognize the smart pattern and looks up for the corresponding record inthe repository 420. Note that identifying smart fabrics and recognizingthe underlying smart pattern may be a multi-step and interactiveprocedure by, for example, retrieving multiple candidate smart patternsfrom a repository, image recognition and search, confirmation and otherparticipation by the user, etc. Various reverse image search andcontent-based image retrieval techniques may be applied, including suchengines as TinEye, Imprezzeo, Macroglossa, etc., along with analyticdescriptions and encoding of smart patterns and related search indescriptor codes. At Phase 5, the software decodes the record andperforms associated tasks, as illustrated by a connector 470 and byfiling photographs of the accessory into an Evernote notebook 480 namedNew Year Cards (or under a tag New Year Cards), as explained in moredetails elsewhere herein.

Referring to FIG. 5, a general system flow diagram 500 illustratesprocessing in connection with design and usage of smart fabricsaccording to the system described herein. Processing begins at a step510 where smart patterns and smart fabrics are designed. Following thestep 510 is a step 515 where the new smart patterns are recorded in therepository. Following the step 515 is a step 520 where accessories withsmart fabrics are produced and distributed, as explained in more detailelsewhere herein. After the step 520, processing proceeds to a step 525where an end user takes a photograph or multiple photographs of anaccessory with a smart surface using a smartphone running smart patternprocessing software. After the step 525, processing proceeds to a step530 where the software identifies smart fabrics in the photograph(s)taken at the step 525. Note that identifying smart fabrics and theunderlying smart pattern may be a multi-step and interactive activity,as explained elsewhere herein. After the step 530, processing proceedsto a step 535 where the software looks for a smart pattern record in therepository. After the step 535, processing proceeds to a step 540 wherethe software retrieves smart pattern parameters, together withassociated tasks and instructions from the record. After the step 540,processing proceeds to a step 545 where the software performs imageprocessing tasks, such as, for example, color and perspectivecorrection, adjusting brightness and other filtering tasks. After thestep 545, processing proceeds to a step 550 where the softwareoptionally performs text recognition tasks, such as an OCR step duringbusiness card processing explained in conjunction with FIG. 1. After thestep 550, processing proceeds to a step 555 where the softwareoptionally performs image and data organization tasks, for example,filing notes created from the photographs into a personal contentmanagement system, as explained in conjunction with FIG. 2. After thestep 555, processing proceeds to a step 560 where the softwareoptionally performs other tasks associated with the smart fabrics.Following the step 560, processing is complete.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration 600 of a photograph 610 of a paperpage with a simple pre-printed pattern, containing handwritten text 630and smart stickers 640 a, 640 b, with grid distortion due to pageflexure. The photograph 610 includes a curved grid 620, the handwrittentext 630 and the stickers 640 a, 640 b. Geometrical page correction isaccomplished by normalizing the grid through a non-linear transformationthat eliminates curvature of the grid, as explained elsewhere herein.Functionality and usage of the smart stickers 640 a, 640 b is explainedelsewhere herein.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate several phases of correction of a photograph of apaper page with a simple pre-printed pattern. The photograph originallycontains various types of defects and distortions.

FIG. 7A is an illustration 700 of an original photograph of a page 710with a simple periodic pre-printed pattern 720, a folded, removed orobstructed corner 730, lens flare spots 740, a shadow 750 darkeningtoward the front (lower) edge of the paper, handwritten text 760 a, 760b and a sticker 770. In this example, grid dimensions on the page are12×9 dots with a uniform distance between horizontal and vertical linesof the grid and without grid deviations encoding additional parametersor identifiers. Not every line of the grid has a same visible number ofdots: some of the dots may be absent or distorted because of thedefects. Absent and/or distorted dots include a corner dot in a top lineand a couple of dots interfering with handwritten letters or hidden dueto the lens flare. Nevertheless, a few lines may have fully visible setsof dots which may be detected and, after comparing with distorted areas,may contribute to correct identification of the paper type, andtherefore, of true grid dimensions. This allows for the preliminaryidentification of page boundaries and, after further calculations andprocessing, for perspective correction, as explained elsewhere herein.Knowing the paper type also facilitates adjusting brightness levels forthe background, and subsequently eliminating the shadow 750 and the lensflare spots 740. Handwritten text may also be normalized, as explainedin more details elsewhere herein, while the sticker 770 may beidentified and processed or removed when the purpose of processing isrestoring a high-quality handwritten note.

FIG. 7B is an illustration 790 of the page 710 after the page type hasbeen identified, perspective correction performed, lens flare andsticker removed. A transformed page 755 has a grid 760 which indifferent embodiments may be either a corrected grid from the page 710or an ideal grid superimposed over a cleaned up image, which includes,in addition to the grid, only handwritten notes 765 a, 765 b, which mayhave also undergone a perspective correction.

FIG. 7C is an illustration 795 of the transformed page 755 after anoriginal or an artificial ideal grid has been removed and an additionalbinarization of the image has been performed. A page 775 has a whitebackground 780 and handwritten note 785 a, 785 b written in black ink,which are most favorable condition for handwriting recognition andindexing of the notes 785 a, 785 b for future keyword search.

FIGS. 8A-8F illustrate different parameters of dotted pre-printedpatterns on paper pages used to identify a pattern type. FIGS. 8A and 8Billustrate a cell-based design of a grid where different celldimensions—5×5 dots in a pattern 810 and 4×4 dots in a pattern 820 mayserve, possibly along with other parameters, as identifiers of apaper/pattern type. FIGS. 8C and 8D illustrate a paper typeidentification based on a number of lines and a distance between lines;in this example, horizontal lines have the same number of dots but thedistance between the horizontal lines, and hence, numbers of dots invertical lines are noticeably different between a first page 840 and asecond 850. FIG. 8E and 8F illustrate a type of paper/pattern defined bya page layout. Thus, a page 870 has a uniform grid on the whole page,while a page 880 is split into three areas: top and bottom areas havetwo different grid parameters with the same number of dots perhorizontal line but different distances between horizontal lines, whilethe middle area has no grid at all and has a solid thin rectangleboundary.

It should be noted that paper types exemplified on FIGS. 8A-8F may notbe limited to a combination of grid and page layout. Each paper type mayhave a unique color and brightness values for the paper and the dots;furthermore, a corresponding smart pattern record, explained elsewhereherein, may include a designation of the paper and of different areas ofa page (such as the page 880), may describe default configuration andoptions for smart stickers accompanying a paper notebook, etc.

FIG. 9 is a schematic illustration 900 of taking a photograph of acurved paper page with a simple pre-printed pattern. A paper page 910with a simple pre-printed pattern is photographed using a smartphone 920running page processing software, such as the Evernote Page Camerasoftware. Depending on the view angle (schematically shown by dashedlines 930), gridlines may appear on the photo as more significantlycurved lines, as in the case of a gridline 940 or as straight lines withvariable distance between dots, as in the case of a gridline 950. Thegridline 940 is characteristic for the higher view angles, while thegridline 950 reflects an area of the page 910 in straight view by thecamera.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration 1000 of a page photographtransformation used to correct page curvature. A photograph 1010includes gridlines with different curvature profiles and spatialdistortions, such as a curved gridline 1020 viewed at a significantcamera angle and a straight gridline 1030 with irregular intervalsbetween dots caused by perspective distortion, as explained inconjunction with the FIG. 9. Based on known grid parameters and gridlinedepiction in the photograph, the software may build a non-linear pagetransformation to flatten the photograph to provide a non-distortedimage. When the transformation is applied to the image, thetransformation transforms the gridlines 1020, 1030 differently,straightening the gridline 1020 and changing the scale along thegridline 1030, which should result in practically congruent gridlines1040, 1050. Other portions of the photograph 1010, such as a handwrittennote or a sticker depicted on the photograph, may be transformedaccordingly.

FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration 1100 of a method of brightnesscorrection for handwriting on a page with a simple pre-printed patternbased on known brightness characteristics of a paper and dots. A graphmay include built in assumptions that: (a) paper type has beenidentified using methods explained elsewhere herein; and (b) under idealconditions, the paper is brighter than the dots of the pre-printedpattern and the ink is user handwriting that is darker than the dots.Note that the dots shown in the pre-printed patterns of FIGS. 6-10, 12,14 may be any color, such as gray with a brightness that may becarefully chosen so that, while still bright enough to be clearlyvisible to a user under normal and even slightly worsened lightingconditions, the dots do not interfere with handwritten strokes for amajority of ballpoint and fountain pens and for commonly accepted inkbrands and colors for note-taking Nevertheless, non-uniform lightingconditions, different flash modes, shadows, lens flares and otherdefects may distort a photograph and cause significant dispersion ofbrightness values for each of the page elements across the image. Thismay be addressed by brightness correction to avoid losing information onthe page.

The brightness/frequency graphs in the illustration 1100 showdistributions of the ideal and actual brightness values for three pageelements—paper (marked by a subscript “p”), dots of the grid pattern(subscript “d”), and ink strokes in user handwriting (subscript “i”). Anideal distribution curve of a paper brightness value 1110 may becontrasted by an actual distribution of paper brightness values on acurve 1120. Similarly, brightness values of dots are represented by anideal distribution curve 1140 and an actual distribution curve 1150;lower frequency amplitudes correspond to a relatively rare occurrence ofdots. Since the paper type has been presumably identified (seeassumption (a) above), both ideal values for the paper and the dotbrightness are known from the smart pattern record and may be used incalculations. On the other hand, true brightness value of the ink inuser handwriting illustrated by the distribution curve 1180 is unknownand has to be restored through calculations from the actual brightnessvalues on the image represented by the distribution curve 1170.

In many practical applications, it may be expected that actualbrightness values are shifted to the left compared with ideal values,i.e. that each of the elements of the image: paper, dots, and ink, isdarker on an image taken under average lighting conditions than the sameimage would be under the ideal lighting conditions. Furthermore, it isknown from empiric and theoretical studies that the transformationfunction between ideal brightness values and average (or median) actualvalues may be monotonic but non-linear. Both parameters of atwo-parametric sigmoid function b^(ph)=S(b^(std)) for theideal-to-actual brightness transformation function may be defined fromtwo equations:

b _(p) ^(ph) =S(b _(p) ^(std))   Eq. 1

and

b _(d) ^(ph) =S(b _(d) ^(std))   Eq. 2

by substituting b^(std) with the ideal values and b^(ph) with theaverage actual values for paper (Eq. 1) and dots (Eq. 2) respectively. Asuperscript std above the brightness value denoted b stands for thestandard (i.e. the ideal value) and a superscript ph for the photo(actual value). Thus, the transformation function from ideal to actualvalues is defined and the inverse function S⁻¹ is used to restore theideal brightness value for the ink in user handwriting: b_(i)^(std)=S⁻¹(b_(i) ^(ph)). A subsequent image processing may includereplacing the actual brightness values for paper, dots and ink(intervals under three bell-shaped curves 1120, 1150, 1170) with idealvalues 1110, 1140, 1180, thus improving the photograph and eliminatingeffects of non-uniform lighting, undesirable shadows and other defects.

FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration 1200 of identification of objectboundaries on a page with a simple pre-printed pattern, exemplified by abusiness card. The illustration 1200 is similar to the use of smartfabrics explained in conjunction with FIG. 1, as described elsewhereherein. When a business card is photographed on a random regularsurface, such as an office desk or a table, the boundaries of thebusiness card may blend with the surface and random reflections from thesurface may further worsen image quality and complicate processing. Onthe other hand, when a business card 1210 is photographed on a page witha dotted grid pattern 1220, a bounding rectangle 1230 of the businesscard 1210 may be easily restored from a larger coordinate rectangle 1240(the smallest coordinate rectangle that includes the whole card) bycalculating the number of dots from edges of the page to the card ineach horizontal (or vertical) gridline partially covered by the card, asillustrated by a partial line 1250. Furthermore, the position of thebounding rectangle 1240 with respect to the grid immediately definesrotation angle, and brightness values of the paper and dots may be usedfor color correction and binarization of the card image, which improvessubsequent parsing and OCR steps. Geometrical restoration of the card insuch conditions may be easier than for a generic smart surface such asthe surface illustrated in connection with FIG. 1. An advantage of thesmart fabrics of FIG. 1 is an automatic task assignment, so that abusiness card is instantly and automatically processed based on thesmart pattern record, whereas the workflow associated with the surfaceshown in FIG. 12 may assume additional interactions of the software witha user who may order specific processing of a restored object as abusiness card.

Referring to FIG. 13, a system flow diagram 1300 illustrates processingin connection with creation of a paper with a simple pre-printedpattern, and with identifying and processing photographs of its pages,explained in more details elsewhere herein. Processing begins at a step1310 where grid parameters are selected by designers, developers andproduction teams. Following the step 1310 is a step 1315 where papersupply with pre-printed pattern is produced; the paper may be in theform of notebooks such as Evernote Smart Notebooks by Moleskine, or maybe paper pads, for example, special designs of Post-it® notepads, etc.After the step 1315, processing proceeds to a step 1320 where the papersupply is distributed to end users. After the step 1320, processingproceeds to a step 1325 where a user makes a handwritten note and takesa photograph of the note with a smartphone running special imageprocessing software, such as Evernote Page Camera software.

After the step 1325, processing proceeds to a step 1330 where the systemattempts to retrieve grid elements, such as dots, on a page imagecorresponding to the photograph. After the step 1330, processingproceeds to a test step 1335 where it is determined whether gridelements have been identified (i.e., detected). If not, then processingis complete; otherwise, processing proceeds to a step 1340 where paperidentification rules (decision rules explained in details elsewhereherein) are applied to retrieved grid elements to identify paper type.After the step 1340, processing proceeds to a test step 1345 where it isdetermined whether the paper identification is accepted by the system.If not, processing is complete; otherwise, processing proceeds to a step1350 where the parameters of an identified pattern (paper/grid type) areassigned to the image for further use in image processing. After thestep 1350, processing proceeds to a step 1355 where page boundaries aredetected. After the step 1355, processing proceeds to a step 1360 wherea perspective correction is performed. The steps 1355, 1360 areexplained in more detail elsewhere herein, in particular, in conjunctionwith FIG. 7A.

After the step 1360, processing proceeds to a step 1365 where pagecurvature on the photograph is optionally corrected, as explained inmore detail elsewhere herein (see, for example, FIGS. 9, 10 and thecorresponding description). After the step 1365, processing proceeds toa step 1370 where custom page information encoded by deviations of gridpatters may be optionally extracted from the grid. After the step 1370,processing proceeds to a step 1375 where image binarization is enhancedbased on information extracted from the grid pattern, as explained inmore details elsewhere herein, in particular, in conjunction with thebrightness adjustment discussion for the FIG. 11. After the step 1375,processing proceeds to a step 1380 where binary black-and-white data aresent for additional processing, such as handwriting recognition that mayoccur on the servers of a content management system, such as theEvernote Service. Following the step 1380, processing is complete.

FIG. 14 is a schematic illustration 1400 of a handwritten page with asimple pre-printed pattern and with several affixed smart stickersperforming different functions. A page 1410 with a pre-printed simplepattern 1420 and handwritten notes 1430 a, 1430 b has four smartstickers 1441-1444 affixed to the page 1410. The stickers 1441-1444 arerecognized by the smart pattern processing software on the pagephotograph. The stickers 1441-1444 may be generic smart stickersrecognized on any smart surface or specialized stickers recognized onone or several paper/grid types and included in smart pattern record(s)for such type(s). Different filling patterns for the stickers 1441-1444on the illustration 1400 may denote different colors. A sticker setavailable for a particular paper/grid type may have limited number ofdifferent smart sticker categories with contrasting colors, so that thesticker color alone may be used for identification. Alternatively,sticker shapes (such as the arrow stickers 1443, 1444 and the squarestickers 1441, 1442 shown on the page 1410) and/or pre-printed images onstickers (such as the house sticker 1441 and the plane sticker 1442shown on the page 1410) may be used as additional identifyingcharacteristics. A smart sticker may also have a simple pre-printedsmart pattern on a surface of the smart sticker to facilitate itsidentification.

Two smart stickers 1441, 1442 carry filing and tagging instructions. Thestickers 1441, 1442 may have different tags and/or content collections(such as Evernote notebooks) associated with the stickers 1441, 1442. Ahandwritten note created from one or multiple page photographs may befiled to collection(s) and assigned tag(s) identified by the stickers.Default notebooks and tags associated with the stickers may correspondto the depictions of the stickers: for example, the sticker 1441 may beassociated with a tag labeled “Home” and the sticker 1442 may beassociated with a tag labeled “Travel”. Stickers may also cause filingof corresponding images into one or more default notebooks designated bya user. Both the notebooks and the tags for each smart sticker may becustomized in using one or more smart sticker software settings.

The sticker 1443 represents another type of action associated with asticker—a custom tag not known to a user at the time of taking ahandwritten note in a paper notebook and affixing stickers to the page.At the time of filing a note into a content collection, the software mayremind the user about a custom tag the user intends to assign to acorresponding note and the user may add another tag or cancel anactivity associated with the sticker.

The arrow sticker 1444 illustrates a different kind of activity; thearrow sticker 1444 is a contextual and positional sticker that isemployed by a user to point to a marked up portion of a handwritten texton a page and to instruct the software to make indicated text, afterhandwriting recognition, a note title. The software identifies a markupline 1480, detects a portion of handwritten text associated with themarkup line 1480, and puts the recognized text into the note title priorto filing the note. Different options assigning a title may be availableto the user: for example, the title may be filled with the text only ifhandwriting recognition had a sufficiently high confidence level;otherwise, a generic text may be put as a note title and the titlefragment of handwritten text may be included on top of the note as asub-title.

FIGS. 15A-15B are schematic illustrations of system settings associatedwith customizing parameters and actions for smart stickers, as explainedin conjunction with the FIG. 14.

FIG. 15A is a schematic illustration 1500 of a general settings pane forsmart stickers. The pane 1510 contains a general description 1515 and ascrollable sticker list 1520 where each smart sticker has a slot with asticker icon 1530, a current tag assignment 1535 and a link to stickersettings details 1540.

FIG. 15B is a schematic illustration 1550 of a smart sticker settingsdetails pane. The pane 1555 contains two portions. The first portion isa top part that sets up filing and tagging parameters for a labelingsticker chosen from the list 1520. In the example of FIG. 15B, the firststicker, labeled “Home”, has been chosen. Accordingly, a correspondingheader 1560 contains an icon of a selected smart sticker. A notebookdesignation pane 1565 shows a current notebook (content collection)name, labeled “Personal”. After a user clicks an arrow in the pane 1565,the software may display a selectable list of all notebooks available tothe user. Similarly, a tag designation pane 1570 allows associating withthe smart sticker any of the tags already defined by the user.Optionally, new notebooks and tags may be created within the same userinterface. A bottom part of the details pane lets a user assign actionsto two arrow stickers 1580, 1590. Current actions, the action1585—assigning Note Title (using a marked up portion of the handwrittentext) and the action 1595—assigning an additional custom tag to a note(unknown at the moment of adding the smart sticker to the page) areindicated in the pane and may be changed to other actions after usingaction menus attached to the arrows at the right side of actiondefinition slots.

Referring to FIG. 16, a flow diagram 1600 shows system processingrelated to smart stickers. Processing begins at a step 1610 where a userreceives a paper notebook (or other accessories with smart fabrics) anda set of smart stickers. Following the step 1610 is a step 1620 wherethe user writes in the paper notebook. Following the step 1620 is a step1630 where the user marks up handwritten notes to indicate anchors forsmart stickers. Note that the step 1620 may be optional for certainapplications of smart stickers to smart surfaces and the step 1630 maybe optional and depend on the sticker set and the associated actions, asexplained in more detail elsewhere herein (see, for example, FIGS. 14,15 and corresponding text).

After the step 1630, processing proceeds to a step 1640 where the useraffixes smart stickers to notebook page(s) or other surfaces. After thestep 1640, processing proceeds to a step 1650 where a user takesphotograph(s) of page(s) from the notebook or of other smart surfaceswith affixed stickers. After the step 1650, processing proceeds to astep 1660 where smart pattern management software processes thephotographs. After the step 1660, processing proceeds to a step 1670where smart stickers are recognized. After the step 1670, processingproceeds to a step 1680 where actions are assigned to stickers accordingto current system settings and parameters, as explained in more detailelsewhere herein (see, for example, FIGS. 15A and 15B and thecorresponding text). After the step 1680, processing proceeds to a step1690 where the system performs assigned actions on photographs,handwritten notes and/or content of the handwritten notes, as explainedin more detail elsewhere herein (see, for example, FIGS. 14, 15A, and15B and the corresponding text). Following the step 1690, processing iscomplete.

Various embodiments discussed herein may be combined with each other inappropriate combinations in connection with the system described herein.Additionally, in some instances, the order of steps in the flowcharts,flow diagrams and/or described flow processing may be modified, whereappropriate. Subsequently, elements and areas of screen described inscreen layouts may vary from the illustrations presented herein.Further, various aspects of the system described herein may beimplemented using software, hardware, a combination of software andhardware and/or other computer-implemented modules or devices having thedescribed features and performing the described functions. The mobiledevice may be a cell phone, although other devices are also possible.

Software implementations of the system described herein may includeexecutable code that is stored in a computer readable medium andexecuted by one or more processors. The computer readable medium may benon-transitory and include a computer hard drive, ROM, RAM, flashmemory, portable computer storage media such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, aflash drive, an SD card and/or other drive with, for example, auniversal serial bus (USB) interface, and/or any other appropriatetangible or non-transitory computer readable medium or computer memoryon which executable code may be stored and executed by a processor. Thesoftware may be bundled (pre-loaded), installed from an app store ordownloaded from a location of a network operator. The system describedherein may be used in connection with any appropriate operating system.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from a consideration of the specification or practice of theinvention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spiritof the invention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying at least one object indata for photographed images, comprising: detecting a reference patternin the data; locating the reference pattern in a table of patterns; andidentifying the at least one object according to the reference pattern.2. A method, according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is located on theat least one object.
 3. A method, according to claim 2, wherein the atleast one object is a greeting card.
 4. A method, according to claim 3,wherein the pattern categorizes the greeting card by at least one of:season and occasion.
 5. A method, according to claim 3, wherein thepattern identifies a sender of the greeting card.
 6. A method, accordingto claim 1, wherein the pattern is provided on an item that is separatefrom the at least one object.
 7. A method, according to claim 1, whereinthe table of patterns includes a record for at least some of thepatterns and wherein the record includes additional informationassociated with the pattern.
 8. A method, according to claim 7, whereinthe additional information includes tasks that are performed inconnection with the pattern.
 9. A method, according to claim 7, whereinthe additional information includes geometric and color parameters ofthe pattern.
 10. A method, according to claim 7, wherein the datacorresponds to a business card and a business card holder.
 11. A method,according to claim 10, wherein tasks associated with business cardsinclude tasks for correcting orientation of the business card, tasks forperforming OCR on the business card to determine a name and contactinformation, and tasks for storing the name and contact information. 12.A method, according to claim 8, wherein a task causes the data to be atleast one of: tagged and filed according to the reference pattern. 13.Computer software, provided in a non-transitory computer-readablemedium, that identifies at least one object in data for photographedimages, the software comprising: executable code that detects areference pattern in the data; executable code that locates thereference pattern in a table of patterns; and executable code thatidentifies the at least one object according to the reference pattern.14. Computer software, according to claim 13, wherein the pattern islocated on the at least one object.
 15. Computer software, according toclaim 14, wherein the at least one object is a greeting card. 16.Computer software, according to claim 15, wherein the patterncategorizes the greeting card by at least one of: season and occasion.17. Computer software, according to claim 15, wherein the patternidentifies a sender of the greeting card.
 18. Computer software,according to claim 13, wherein the pattern is provided on an item thatis separate from the at least one object.
 19. Computer software,according to claim 13, wherein the table of patterns includes a recordfor at least some of the patterns and wherein the record includesadditional information associated with the pattern.
 20. Computersoftware, according to claim 19, wherein the additional informationincludes tasks that are performed in connection with the pattern. 21.Computer software, according to claim 19, wherein the additionalinformation includes geometric and color parameters of the pattern. 22.Computer software, according to claim 19, wherein the data correspondsto a business card and a business card holder.
 23. Computer software,according to claim 22, wherein tasks associated with business cardsinclude tasks for correcting orientation of the business card, tasks forperforming OCR on the business card to determine a name and contactinformation, and tasks for storing the name and contact information. 24.Computer software, according to claim 20, wherein a task causes the datato be at least one of: tagged and filed according to the referencepattern.
 25. Computer software, according to claim 13, wherein thesoftware is one of: pre-loaded with a device, installed from an appstore, and downloaded from a location of a network operator.